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Security report for 42seoul.kr

Innovation Academy · Education · South Korea

High risk. 9 critical or high findings in Network security, Security headers and 2 other checks.

Security score

48/100

Risk levelHigh

0–100, higher is better. How it is calculated

42 Seoul is an innovative software education program based in South Korea, operated by the Innovation Academy. The program offers tuition-free, self-directed learning aimed at cultivating top-tier software developers. The website reflects a medium-sized educational entity with a clear focus on growth, mentorship, and practical experience through collaborations with various companies. The business model emphasizes accessibility and challenge-driven learning without traditional academic constraints. Technically, the website employs a custom CMS with a technology stack including jQuery, Slick Carousel, Google Fonts, and Google Analytics, hosted via Megazone and utilizing Cloudflare DNS. The site is mobile-optimized with good SEO practices, though some accessibility features are basic. Performance is moderate, and the site uses HTTPS with a secure domain registration status. From a security perspective, the site enforces HTTPS and uses Cloudflare nameservers, but lacks visible security headers and a cookie consent mechanism, which are areas for improvement. No critical vulnerabilities or exposed sensitive data were detected. Privacy compliance is basic, with a comprehensive privacy policy present but no explicit cookie consent. Contact information is clearly provided, enhancing business credibility. Overall, the website is trustworthy, professional, and well-aligned with its educational mission. Strategic improvements in security headers and privacy compliance would further strengthen its posture and user trust.

Scanned

NIS2 and GDPR posture

GDPR outside view
35/ 100 · High
Checks completed
7of 7

NIS2 Art. 21(2)

  1. (a) Risk analysis and security policies: Not visible from outside
  2. (b) Incident handling: One indicator
  3. (c) Business continuity, backups and crisis management: Not visible from outside
  4. (d) Supply chain security: Not visible from outside
  5. (e) Secure acquisition, development and maintenance, including vulnerability handling: Partly checked
  6. (f) Assessing the effectiveness of security measures: Not visible from outside
  7. (g) Cyber hygiene and security training: Not visible from outside
  8. (h) Cryptography and encryption: Partly checked
  9. (i) HR security, access control and asset management: One indicator
  10. (j) Multi-factor authentication and secured communications: Not visible from outside

This scan rated NIS2 with an earlier keyword method that is no longer shown; rescan for the per-article view. Risk management, continuity, supply chain, training, MFA, management oversight (Art. 20) and incident reporting (Art. 23) need internal evidence, and Guard cannot tell whether NIS2 applies to this organisation.

GDPR is indicative only, based on publicly visible signals: Articles 7, 12, 13 and 32 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and Article 5(3) of the ePrivacy Directive. Not a certification or legal assessment.

Priority findings

9 findings rated critical or high. Fix these first.

  1. Network security

    Services reachable from the internet are the first thing attackers probe. Anything open that does not need to be should be closed.

    • Critical

      Critical Service Exposed: MySQL

      Port 3306 (MySQL) is publicly accessible - MySQL - Database server

      What to do: Immediately restrict access to MySQL using firewall or VPN

      • NIS2 21(2)(e)
      • IR 2024/2690 6.7.2(f): Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690, Annex point 6.7.2(f): Network security
      • NIST CM-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 CM-7: Least Functionality
      • NIST SC-7: NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-7: Boundary Protection

  2. Security headers

    Security headers are instructions your web server sends to every visitor’s browser. Missing ones leave visitors more exposed to attacks such as clickjacking and injected scripts.

    • High

      Missing Strict-Transport-Security header

      Forces HTTPS connections

      What to do: Add "Strict-Transport-Security: max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload"

      • CWE-319
      • OWASP A04:2025
      • ASVS V3.4.1
    • High

      Missing X-Frame-Options header

      Prevents clickjacking attacks

      What to do: Add "X-Frame-Options: DENY" or "X-Frame-Options: SAMEORIGIN"

    • High

      Missing Content-Security-Policy header

      Controls resources the browser is allowed to load

      What to do: Implement a Content-Security-Policy appropriate for your application

      • ASVS V3.4.3
      • OWASP Secure Headers: OWASP Secure Headers Project recommends Content-Security-Policy: default-src 'self'; form-action 'self'; base-uri 'self'; object-src 'none';…

  3. GDPR outside view

    These are the privacy signals visitors and data protection authorities look for under GDPR.

    • High

      No Privacy Policy found

      GDPR requires a clear and accessible privacy policy

      What to do: Add a comprehensive privacy policy page and link to it prominently

Need hands-on remediation? Email guard@offseq.com

Keep watching 42seoul.kr

This scan found 23 issues across 6 checks. Monitoring re-runs those checks daily, emails you when something material changes and records each fix, so you can show progress.

Daily monitoring

Recommended

€25per month

  • TLS certificates and expiry
  • DNS records
  • SPF, DKIM and DMARC
  • Security headers
  • GDPR and NIS2 posture
  • Exposed services
  • Third-party trackers
  • Security score drift

Email alerts on material changes and an exportable JSON history of every change.

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Full report

€39.90one-time

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Results by check

Each check with its score, findings and the evidence it collected.

How this score is calculated

The security score runs 0–100, higher is better. It is the plain average of the security checks that completed in this scan, each counted equally. A check that could not run is left out: it counts neither as a pass nor as a fail.

Counted in this score

SSL/TLS
77
Security headers
15
Email security
85
DNS health
75
Network security
0
GDPR outside view
35
Average
48

Not counted

  • NIS2 outside view: Re-weights evidence from the TLS, email, DNS, network and hygiene checks, so counting it would count that evidence twice. Shown on its own.
  • OffSeq Observations: An AI reading of the site, useful context but not reproducible evidence. Shown on its own.

Findings that cap the score at 49

Each of these is serious on its own, so while any is present the site cannot rate better than high risk, however good the other checks are.

  • The certificate is not trusted by browsers
  • The website is not served over HTTPS
  • A database, remote desktop, file-sharing or Telnet service is reachable from the internet · found on this site
  • The page loads a script from a compromised source
  • The domain registration has expired
  • SPF authorises every server to send mail as the domain

Partial scans

When the site blocks Guard or most checks cannot run, the score covers only the checks that ran (usually DNS and email), is capped at 75 and is shown as partial, without a risk level.

Risk levels

  • Critical0–25
  • High26–49
  • Medium50–75
  • Low76–100

Technical appendix

Business context, site observations and technical notes gathered during the scan, and the standards behind each reference.

Business context

Business profile

42 Seoul holds a strong position in the South Korean education sector, focusing on software developer training through innovative, tuition-free programs. Its competitive advantage lies in its unique self-directed learning model and strong mentorship network. Revenue streams likely include government or private funding and partnerships. The target audience includes aspiring software developers and students seeking alternative education paths. Growth indicators include ongoing recruitment cycles and active social media engagement. The partnership with Innovation Academy and use of modern digital tools reflect a mature operational ecosystem.

Security posture

The website demonstrates a moderate security maturity level with HTTPS enabled and domain transfer protection. However, the absence of key security headers such as Content Security Policy (CSP), HSTS, and X-Frame-Options reduces its defense-in-depth. The lack of a cookie consent mechanism despite tracking scripts indicates a compliance gap with GDPR and similar regulations. No incident response or vulnerability disclosure information is provided, suggesting limited transparency in security operations. Overall, the security posture is adequate but could benefit from enhancements in header implementation, privacy controls, and incident readiness.

Recommendations

  1. Implement comprehensive security headers including CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options, and X-XSS-Protection to mitigate common web attacks.
  2. Deploy a cookie consent banner/mechanism to comply with GDPR and enhance user privacy transparency.
  3. Regularly update and audit JavaScript libraries to avoid vulnerabilities associated with outdated dependencies.
  4. Establish and publish an incident response policy and vulnerability disclosure program to improve security transparency and readiness.
  5. Enhance accessibility features to improve inclusivity and comply with web accessibility standards.

Contact details published on the site

Addresses
Legal name
재단법인 이노베이션아카데미
Site observations

Automated reading of the public site. Ratings are indicative.

Business

Company
Innovation Academy
Description
42서울은 교수, 교재, 학비가 없는 3무 소프트웨어 개발자 양성 프로그램입니다.
Key services
Software developer training, Self-directed learning programs, Mentorship and corporate collaboration
Content quality
good
Branding
consistent

Technology

Stack
jQuery 1.11.1, Slick Carousel, Google Fonts, Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Cloudflare DNS
Performance
moderate
Mobile
good
Accessibility
basic
SEO
good

Security

Observed score
75/100
Good practices seen
  • HTTPS enforced
  • Domain status clientTransferProhibited
  • Use of Cloudflare nameservers

Analytics and tracking

Services
Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager
Tracking level
moderate
Privacy practices
basic

Advertising

Transparency
basic

Site quality

Design
good
User experience
good
Content relevance
good
Navigation
good
Professionalism
good
Trustworthiness
high

Key observations

  1. Website is fully accessible and not blocked by WAF.
  2. Content is primarily in Korean with English language option.
  3. No forms detected on main page; application links redirect to internal pages.
  4. No explicit cookie consent mechanism found despite use of tracking scripts.
  5. Social media presence on YouTube, Facebook, GitHub, Instagram.
  6. Use of Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager for tracking.
  7. Website uses HTTPS with Cloudflare DNS and hosting via Megazone.
  8. WHOIS data is transparent and consistent with business information.
  9. No visible security headers detected in HTML source.
  10. No vulnerability disclosure or incident response information found.
Technical notes

Notes

The website uses a custom CMS with a front-end stack based on jQuery and Slick Carousel for UI components. Google Fonts and Google Analytics are integrated for typography and analytics respectively. Hosting is provided by Megazone with Cloudflare DNS, ensuring reliable uptime and DNS security. Performance is moderate with room for optimization, especially in modernizing JavaScript libraries and improving accessibility. The site is mobile responsive and SEO optimized with proper meta tags and Open Graph data. Technical debt is minimal but updating legacy libraries and adding security headers would reduce risk.
Standards and sources

Reference chips under each finding point to the standard, regulation or specification the finding relates to. They are taken from the official datasets below and mapped conservatively: a finding with no defensible link shows none. NIS2 and GDPR references mark where a finding is relevant evidence, not a compliance verdict. Implementing Regulation (EU) 2024/2690 binds digital infrastructure and digital service providers; for other entities it is the most detailed public reading of the Article 21 measures. WCAG, EN 301 549, European Accessibility Act and Web Accessibility Directive references name the requirement an automated accessibility rule relates to; they are not a conformance verdict.

Retrieved 2026-10-25

Earlier scans of this domain

  1. 57/100Medium31 findingsView report
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